(B) The Minsk Shooting

1. In mid-August 1941 Wolff was part of the entourage which accompanied Himmler to Minsk, where he was met by the Head of the SS and Police [Höheren SS- und Polizeiführer] of Russia, von dem Bach-Zelewski and the leader of Einsatzgruppe B, SS Lieutenant-General [SS- Brigadeführer] Arthur Nebe. Himmler and Wolff witnessed the execution of some 100 to 120 Jews and 'partisans'.271

2. Irving states in his pleadings that at Wolff's 1964 trial the SS General von dem Bach-Zelewski testified 'that in his view "Hitler knew nothing of the mass destruction of the Jews" and that "the entire thing began with Himmler." This is close to the views expressed by the plaintiff.'272 In fact von dem Bach-Zelewski was called before the court to prove that Wolff knew of the fate which awaited the Jews in early 1941. He testified that both he and Wolff were present at the Wewelsberg in March 1941 where Himmler talked about the impending war with Russia and the coming 'special assignments' ['Sonderaufgaben'] which the SS, SD and police units would perform:

About the meaning and aim of the campaign he said that it was a question of existence and therefore a struggle of the peoples [Volkstumskampf] of unparalleled bitterness would break out in the course of which, through acts of war and [illegible], 20 to 30 million Slavs and Jews would die. Himmler's comments remained fresh in his mind because of their importance and their consequences, and because of the dramatic way they were presented.273

3. Irving's citing of von dem Bach-Zelewski to prove that Hitler knew nothing of the 'Final Solution' is openly contradicted by another piece of evidence von dem Bach-Zelewski gave during Wolff's trial. He was one of no fewer than eight witnesses who testified that during the shootings in Minsk, Himmler stated that he and Hitler alone bore responsibility for the extermination of the Jews:

Himmler declared after the shootings that the hard struggle that the German people [Volk] had to undertake made harsh measures such as this imperative. The Jews were the bearers of world Bolshevism and they must therefore be destroyed. He and Hitler had assumed responsibility for this before the court of history. The task was difficult, but it had to be carried out.

4. Von dem Bach-Zelewski's account of Himmler's words was corroborated by no fewer than seven other witnesses at the trial.

5. The head of Einsatzkommando unit 8, Dr. Otto Bradfisch put the question to Himmler:

As soon as Himmler arrived in Minsk, I turned to him and asked him who was taking responsibility for the mass extermination of the Jews. Himmler made this conversation the occasion for a speech, in which he told the members of Einsatzkommando 8, as well as those members of the Security Police who were present, not to worry - the orders had been personally given by Hitler. It was a question, then, of a Führer-order, which had the force of law, and he and Hitler alone bore the responsibility for these orders.275

6. Himmler's private reply to Bradfisch before the execution had been no different: 'Himmler answered me in a fairly sharp tone that these orders had come from Hitler as the supreme Führer of the German government, and that they had the force of law.'276